As a Valentine’s day gift to my beautiful girlfriend, I purchased a bouquet of hand-picked concert tickets. Among those tickets was a pair to see Nashville-based Escondido at First Avenue’s younger sibling, 7th Street Entry. As a band, the group is finding success at only 3 years old. They’ve set out on their own not ...

Part of me was nervous as my friends and I entered the First Avenue main room, but most of me was excited. Excited to share what I recall being an undeniable, smile-inducing good time with Phil Cook on stage, nervous that the Phil Cook magic may have only existed at the (mostly) sunny Eaux Claires ...

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you don’t find music, music finds you. In the case of Sunflower Bean (E: “Beam?” Me: “Like black or pinto — Bean.” E: “I don’t trust Chipotle anymore.”), I felt more seduced than found. A friend floated their name past me: “They have a song called ...

The two ends of the spectrum were well represented. Down on the floor, at the epicenter an engaged assembly clearly ready to let the emotion shaking music of Daughter envelope them. On the outer rim and up on the balcony, a group of people celebrating birthdays and talking about the song that they’ve “cried to ...

All the way up in the second row, I was surrounded by madness. One gum chewing, not-having-any-of-it woman at 3 o’clock, two hammered gentleman bobbing and making somewhat correlated movements between professions of love for one another at 4 o’clock, what began as 6 o’clock — a screaming, unapologetic blonde basketcase — came crashing through ...